The graduate studies programs in leadership are designed for working professionals and provide a deep foundation of problem-based learning about leadership from many different perspectives. The programs are entirely online. Participants can expect to finish the graduate leadership certificate in one year. The M.A. in Leadership can be completed in two years.
GRADUATE STUDIES IN LEADERSHIP
M.A. in Leadership
Graduate Leadership Certificate
These programs can be applied to any field and are designed to help you explore how you are called to lead and can enhance your own ability to navigate personal leadership challenges. You will be mentored and receive a high level of faculty support as you progress through your program.
Wartburg College defines leadership as “taking responsibility for our communities and making them better through public action.” Community, in this context, can be broadly defined to include employment community, a spiritual community, and a geographic community, etc. Understanding the relationship of your role in various communities is critical for personal satisfaction and effective leadership.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
The culmination of the master’s degree is a capstone experience in which students enhance their leadership portfolios, implement (or further implement) a project within an organizational context, and demonstrate learning through a written product that integrates knowledge with courses.
| Course Sequence |
| Leadership Intensive Seminar: Integrating Mind, Body, Spirit |
| Communication Theory and Ethics |
| Leadership History and Theory |
| Inclusive Leadership |
| Leadership Resource Management |
| Portfolio Summary and Leadership Intensive |
| Understanding Adaptive Issues |
| Leadership Organizational Change and Innovation |
| Applied Leadership Project |
| Leadership Capstone |
Courses are developed in a condensed/accelerated format that allows students to take courses primarily one course at a time.
The graduate leadership certificate is ideal for those who wish to earn an academic credential, but may not be ready to complete a full master’s degree. Courses earned in the leadership certificate program can be applied to a future master’s degree.
| Course Sequence |
| Leadership Intensive Seminar: Integrating Mind, Body, Spirit |
| Communication Theory and Ethics |
| Leadership History and Theory |
| Inclusive Leadership |
| Leadership Resource Management |
| Portfolio Summary and Leadership Intensive |
Courses are developed in a condensed/accelerated format that allows students to take courses primarily one course at a time.
Program Benefits
The program is designed to help individuals explore how they are called to lead and how they can enhance their own ability to navigate personal leadership challenges. The program will place a strong emphasis on application of the material in an applied setting (for example, the learner’s place of employment), starting with identifying and sharing a leadership challenge they are facing. Various course assignments and portfolio artifacts will be developed pertinent to the applied setting. The program will offer mentoring and a high level of support for individuals as they progress through the program.
The construction of a portfolio throughout the course offerings will serve as formative and summative documentation, which provides an integrative framework to the program as a whole. Each course contains assignments that comprise parts of the overall portfolio. Each learner will build a summative portfolio over the course of the program with advising from instructors.
Upon completion of the master’s degree, the learner will have demonstrated the following abilities and attributes:
- Express a personal leadership identity, maximizing on personal effectiveness.
- Analyze complex environments and the need for change.
- Evaluate the role innovation and entrepreneurship play in organizational effectiveness within economic, social and political environments.
- Develop knowledge, skills and commitments that foster stewardship of human and material resources.
- Translate the leadership development process through the creation of a portfolio reflective of the leadership journey.
- Articulate reflective analyses on what it means to live a life of purpose, distinguishing a life of success and a life of significance.
| Industry | Project Title |
| Ministry | Deepen Engagement & Create Meaningful Relationships Through Music Ministry |
| Agriculture | Five Star Cooperative in Carbon |
| Finance & Banking | Processor Relationships Across Banks to Better Balance Workflow |
| Higher Education | Academic-Focused Recruitment Initiative |
| Military | Seeking Selfless Leadership: Incorporating 360-Degree Feedback in the Coast Guard Evaluation System |
| K-12 Education | Paraeducator Professional Development |
| Marketing & Public Relations | Solving the Rural Housing Crisis |
| Collegiate Athletics | Leadership and Team Culture Development |
| Manufacturing Management | Creating a Welcoming Environment – John Deere Material Flow |
| Business | Increasing the Roles of a Creative Team to Enhance Interactions with Partners |
| Non-Profit Services | Trauma Informed Care at Willis Dady Homeless Services |
| Health Care Administration | Addressing Systemic Barriers to Securing Entry-level Healthcare Jobs |
| Human Resources | Normalizing Mistakes to Combat the Sense of Failure and Foster a Growth Mindset Framework |
Please contact gradstudies@wartburg.edu for links to view examples of student portfolios.
Connect with Us!
Kassy Grosser
Director of Graduate Program Operations
FACULTY
Michael Gleason
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies/Director of the Institute for Leadership Education
Gregory Lorenz
Ashley Lang
Business Owner and Leadership Consultant
Greg Lorenz
Instructor
Theresa Moore
Assistant Director of the Institute for Leadership Education
Mary Pilgram
Instructor
Barb Schultz
Instructional Designer
Annie Vander Werff
Instructor
Sarah Voels
Director of Vogel Library